[MAY 2022 | GRAVITY FALLS, OR] they're going door to door with lamp-black eyes

[mabeljuice]

♫ wild waste and welter- jeffrey foucault

 

After arriving back in Gravity Falls, Dipper learns that Bill is, indeed, back, and that the cryptic encoded messages all over the Shack were just taunts. Stan is still missing and there aren't any leads on where he's gone, but before Dipper can even start his investigation, he's pulled into a completely different mystery- a series of murders that Mabel and Wendy have been investigating.

In pursuit of their prey, the trio investigate a motel near the woods, only to find themselves face to face with a strange humanoid monster, capable of contorting its body into small spaces that seems to be preying on the livers of its victims. Dipper and Mabel manage to take it down, but not before having a heart-to-heart about the nature of their estranged relationship.

The twins carry the monster's body back to the Shack where Dipper sets up shop in the basement. His autopsy and toxicology report reveal that the monster is actually a mysterious mutated human with a strange chemical substance in its bloodstream. I'm sure it's fine.

Dipper works late into the night, but there's still more to be done. Wendy has revealed that there is government facility in Gravity Falls now that none of them has been able to get into. The Gleefuls are currently running the town, and Gideon has his own little "flock" of believers, who seem to be both enamored and fearful of him. And that's only just the surface. Things have been getting much weirder in Gravity Falls, and the Mystery Twins are back together and on the case.

Mabel usually sleeps in on days the Shack isn't due to open, so Dipper has some time before she wakes up to do some investigating on his own if he chooses. 

Comments

[lowvi]

If there's one thing Dipper learned from living in Gravity Falls with Grunkle Stan, it's that tourists are extremely dumb and wander into places that they shouldn't all the time. And as someone who hasn't been seen around Gravity Falls for ten years, he's pretty sure he can pass as a tourist with minimal difficulty. He grabs a selfie stick from the gift shop and heads into the woods. There are two reasons. For one, he really loved exploring those woods as a kid, and he wants to see how much of it is the same. Hell, he'd even be interested in talking to the gnomes and seeing what, if anything, they've noticed.

And then there are those secret agents. He wants to know where they are, he wants to know what they're up to, and that's why he's got the selfie stick and the the alibi. He'd rather play it sneaky, but if he can't, well, he's not Mabel, but he likes to think he can lie his way out of a situation pretty decently if he needs to.

(He has a +2. He is so screwed.)

It's been a while, and things have changed, but he doesn't think he's entirely lost as he starts to walk through the woods (search 14).

[mabeljuice]

The woods haven't changed much, which is a good thing- there might be fewer trees here and there from where the lumberjacks have come through and the scorched earth in various places from the wildfires from that near apocalypse, but... for the most part, it's the same.

The difference is it's quieter, which he'll pick up on easily, and for all that Gravity Falls has been weirder and bolder, it seems sort of unusual that the forest would be this weirdly silent. There aren't even any woodpeckers.

The area where the gnomes have their home is also conspicuously devoid of life, though the path seems to be surprisingly well-worn, like people have been stomping through it recently, and beyond the trees, one can see Northwest Manor off in the distance. In fact, the path seems to be cut all the way up to the manor, itself.

[lowvi]

That's... strange. It's not that Dipper particularly likes the gnomes--nothing that tried to marry his sister will ever be really good in his books, but it is weird how little life is around.

And the fact that there's a path going to Northwest Manor makes him narrow his eyes suspiciously. Pacifica may have turned out to be more okay than he originally thought, but her family was still exactly as awful as he had expected. He frowns and starts tramping up the path, keen to get to the bottom of the mystery as always.

[mabeljuice]

It's a decent hike up the hill, but once he gets there, he'll be greeted to Northwest Manor in all its glory, relatively unchanged, except for one very, very strange difference-

The gate is wide open.

And this is clearly very normal, as servants are milling about on the grounds, gardening and chasing the peacocks out of the hedges and checking the fountain. Not a single one of them pays Dipper any mind as he arrives.

[lowvi]

Well, that's not exactly bad-strange, but it's still not what he expected. He frowns and looks around warily as he walks right up to the front door. He knows one person who can probably explain what's going on, though whether or not she will is a different question. Still, only way to find out is to ask.

[mabeljuice]

A butler answers his knock after a few moments and looks him over with a scrutinizing and long-suffering look. "May I help you, Sir?"

[lowvi]

"Yeah," Dipper glances around, tugging at his t-shirt sleeve. He feels out of place, uncomfortable, and extremely underdressed. Also, he kind of regrets the selfie stick, even if he still maintains it would be useful as a cover if he did stumble into the Secret Agent camp. He glances around the room. "Is Pacifica here?"

[mabeljuice]

The butler continues to scrutinize him, as if trying to place him among a number of people Pacifica's age who come to the manor. "Yes. Right this way, sir."

He opens the door a little further and Dipper is free to walk into the foyer, which, while still lavishly decorated, no longer boasts the sheer amount of taxidermied animal heads. In their place are dozens of portraits that Dipper would recognize as being from the secret room that he and Pacifica found ten years ago- hard to remember all the portraits that painted the Northwests in such an awful light.

"Make yourself comfortable," the butler drawls, as if he doesn't really care if Dipper sits on a tack or runs screaming from the house, so long as he doesn't make a mess doing it. "I'll fetch Ms. Northwest."

[lowvi]

"Great, great." Dipper casually drops the selfie stick in a potted plant as the butler walks away and starts looking at the portraits. He doesn't really feel like sitting down, and he's pretty sure comfortable will never be a word he associates with this place, but.... he can try.

[lakefoam]

It doesn't take long before he can hear Pacifica's snotty tone echoing down the corridor. "You know, just because we have an open-gate policy on vistors now doesn't mean you have to let everyone in. You don't know him at all? I-"

And there she is, stepping into the foyer in a pink dress, looking every bit as glamourous as she did at twelve, only... well, obviously much more filled out. She has a champagne flute in her hand that she drops the second she enters and her butler catches it before it hits the floor and excuses himself, while Pacifica is left gawking.

And then her face contorts with quiet anger. "You. You have a lot of nerve showing yourself in this town again, Dipper Pines."

[lowvi]

"Hello to you too," Dipper rolls his eyes slightly, scowling. It's not that he exactly expected Pacifica to welcome him with open arms, but he'd thought they were on better terms than that.

Then again, she's not wrong. After nearly causing the end of the world, he's surprised there aren't more people mad at him in this town.

"Believe me, it wasn't my choice. Mabel dragged me back." He could explain about Bill and Stan. But if there's one thing he absolutely never wants to do, it's talk about Bill. Especially not to an angry Pacifica Northwest.

[lakefoam]

Pacifica's expression twists even more when he mentions Mabel and for a split second, she almost looks hurt, but it's back to anger again before anyone can really process it. "Okay. So how much do I have to pay you to get you out of here? Brentley, dear. Get my checkbook." She snaps her fingers, calling out into the next room. "Name your price. Surely you can use a little extra money to... buy yourself a better wardrobe."

[lowvi]

"I don't want your money, Pacifica." He rolls his eyes, though his spot check of 19 mens he catches that flash. It makes him pause, but he brushes it away. This is Pacifica. He doesn't care about her feelings.

"But I will go away if you give me information. Do you know what's happened to all the creatures that live in the forest?"

[lakefoam]

"Excuse me?" If you thought she looked like she was about to burst a blood vessel before, it's nothing compared to now. "After what you did, do you really think I'm just going to give you anything? You don't get to make any deals, Dipper." She prods him in the chest with a pink gloved finger.

[lowvi]

"You were just offering to give me money, this really seems like I'm asking for less." Except to Pacifica, money is practically nothing. Dipper scowls at her, not moving back. "Look, I'm sorry, but that was ten years ago, and I'm actually trying to make up for it right now. So anything you want to tell me that might help with that would be a big help."

[lakefoam]

♫ prodigal son- heather dale

"To leave this town, not my house." She crosses her arms over her chest, scowling. "Yeah, of course you are. You may have been able to leave town and not come back until Mabel dragged you, but the rest of us? We had to live here. And we're doing fine without you." She turns on her heels, stalking towards the fountain in the middle of the room to sit down. "And what makes you think I know anything?"

[lowvi]

"Yeah, fine isn't how Mabel described it. And why would you have to stick around? You could have hired a personal helicopter and gone to some private tropical rich people paradise." He follows her, taking a seat as well, though not too close to her. He's pretty sure she'd push him into the fountain given half a chance.

"I followed a path directly from the extremely empty gnomes' hideout to your mansion. I figure if you don't know something, someone here would have to."

[lakefoam]

"Mabel describes a lot of things differently than how they really are." She turns her body away from him and keeps her eyes glued to the walls. "There's no one here that could tell you anything. My parents sold those government people the land years ago, and I cut ties with all that business after they died."

[lowvi]

"The government people again." Dipper frowns, pulling a pen out of his pocket and idly clicking it as he thinks. It's good Pacifica cut ties with them. She might be mad at him, but she's still not her parents. He stares at her back. "And let me guess: you don't know anything about them either?"

[lakefoam]

"Just that they showed up not long after that happened." She says that, because at least she has enough decorum and tact to not describe it as 'that time you almost broke the universe, you idiot.' "Dad said they were 'cleaning up' and it wasn't my place to know anymore than that, but they never left."

She stands up and paces the room a bit. "That road you followed goes straight to them. My father had it made so he could go down there whenever he wanted, but don't waste your time going down there, Dipper. You won't find anything, but trouble. The kind of trouble that gets other people hurt, and if you've really changed, that will mean something to you."

[lowvi]

"People are already getting hurt." People were getting hurt before he got here, maybe more than they would have otherwise because he wasn't here. And Bill is possessing Stan. "I don't have a choice."

[lakefoam]

"Then you haven't changed at all. Way to make up for everything you did. Do you really think this town is defenseless? Or did Mabel fail to tell you that we've all been fighting monsters since you left. That's why the forest is so quiet. Things didn't even start getting bad again until three years ago."

She crosses her arms over her chest, looking agitated. "Look, I get it. I know what it's like to want to make yourself better than what you were. You're the one who taught me that. That's why I live in this house with all my family's mistakes right in front of me, so I can remind myself that I'm not going to be like that." She throws an arm out to indicate the portraits around them. "Word of advice, Dipper? You haven't broken any chain yet. You still think you know best, and you're still waltzing around like you deserve answers. Maybe you should remember what happened the last time you did that."

She shakes her head, turning on her heels. "Leave it alone, Dipper. Just go home. Everyone will be safer that way."

[lowvi]

"....she didn't mention you were on the team!" Dipper scowls a little. It isn't much of a secret, but it's just more Mabel hasn't told him, and that's frustrating. But her words do hit home a little harder than he'd like. He glances away, biting his lip. Is he really going to help things at all here? Bill's puzzles were meant to draw him out. Meant to bring him back. Is he just playing straight into the demon's hands, starting up his investigations again?

"I shouldn't have come," he says quietly, more to himself than anything else.

[lakefoam]

Pacifica freezes in the doorway for a moment, awkwardly rigid, and for a moment, she doesn't say anything. After a few failed attempts to start talking, she only manages a hasty, "You can see yourself out."

The door to the next room clicks shut, leaving Dipper alone in the foyer with all of the Northwests and their past sins. Probably judging him for his. Yikes.

[lowvi]

Dipper stares around the room, feeling the eyes of the Northwest ancestors staring down at him. He swallows and heads out the door.

He should leave. He knows that now. But he can't do it quite yet. He has to at least look at this government camp. He won't investigate, not fully, but just looking can't hurt, right? He leaves the Northwest Mansion and goes back into the forest, this time making an effort to go unnoticed (move silently 16).